Improvement iis



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

ALONZO J. F. HOWARD, OF MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,288, dated July 25, 1871.

Figa 2 a transverse section of a rubstick in which my improvement is embodied.

A boot-crimpers rub-stick,77 as it is technically termed by the craft, is a simple bar of wood of about eighteen or twenty inches in length, and one and one-half inch, more or less, in bulk, in cross-section, with the exception of a portion of its center, at which point it expands into a comparatively flat enlargement, the edges of which are employed to rub and pound, or otherwise manipulate a boot-upper when conforming the same to the crimping-block or form, one extremity of the bar being beveled or reduced to the shape of an obtuse-angled wedge for operating in contracted places or the sharp bends of the crimping-form, which are not accessible to the main rubber One edge of the main enlargement or rubber is employed to manipulate and pound the leather in the act of crimping, when such lea-ther is in a moiststate, and the opposite edge to smooth the surface of the leather after it may have become dry; and as the labor and wear devolving upon the iirst-named edge is much the greater of the two, it has been the common practice heretofore, in the production of these rub-sticks, to protect this edge by a covering or sheathing of thin sheet metal, the wedge-shaped end ofthe stick being likewise provided. Owing` to the attenuated thickness of the metal plating, as heretofore applied, its term of service is very short, as it soon wears through, thus leaving the rubber in a bad condition, for the reason that the rough edges of the fractured metal abrade and injure the surface of the leather, and the rub-stick is discarded long before it is votherwise worn out. In order to greatly prolong the wear of these rubsticks, and in so doing carry out the purpose of my invention, I apply, in a manner as hereinafter stated, to the apex of one edge of the central or main rubber and the wedge before named, a box of metal of considerable thickness, whereby the term of service of this portion of the rubstick equals or exceeds that of the remainder.

The accompanying drawing represents at A a wooden bar, which constitutes a boot-crimpers rub-stick, the central enlargement thereof, which constitutes the main rubber, being shown at B, and the wedge-shaped end which produces the auxiliary rubber, at O. In carrying my invention into practice, I discard the thin metal covering which has heretofore been applied to the parts B and O, and in lieu thereofl apply to each ofthe rubbers B O a bar, D, of metal, of a length equal to that of the rubber to which it is fitted, and pyramidal in cross-section, the base of this block terminating in two thin leaves, E E, which serve to envelop the 'edge of each of the rubbers and confine the bar thereto. The metal bar can first be made equal in length to the two rubbers, and then can be cut into two pieces, each part corresponding in length to the rubber to which it is to be iitted. As' this bar of metal is about onequarter of an inch in thickness, more or less, it will withstand a great amount of wear, and by prolonging, to a very great extent, the duration of a rub-stick, effect an economy which entitles the invention to more value than is at iiirst apparent.

I claim- A boot-crimpers rub-stick, in which a metallic bar, D, provided with leaves E, is fitted to each of the rubbers, substantially as shown and set forth.

ALONZO J. F. HOWARD.

Witnesses:

O. N. SUMNER, E. W. WHITMORE. 

